One also has to wonder about the wisdom of committing one's secret passion to a signed piece of paper.Ms Gallagher might regard her cards as keepsakes, but to a divorce lawyer they are more likely be defined as evidence.Practicalities aside, they reveal themselves to be every bit as saccharine and rambling as the sort that bored husbands give to their wives year in year out to mask their growing indifference - the very thing many adulterous affairs were started to get away from."I love your sweet smell," opines one "I can't find it in a bottle ... She knows her idea is controversial and divisive, especially in a country that is so touchy on the subject of transgressive sex.But she also confidently predicts a large market. "Secret Lover conducted extensive research, and the statistics conclude that 60 per cent of married men and 40 per cent of married women in the United States are, or have been, involved in an affair," she claims. "This places the numbers in the millions."Reliable figures are, of course, notoriously hard to ascertain, and quite a few academic studies put the adultery rate rather lower than Ms Gallagher.
They are due to go into stores this summer.Naturally, they have attracted as many detractors as admirers. Ms Gallagher has been denounced on conservative talk radio, and a number of wholesale buyers say they want nothing to do with her. One incensed letter-writer to the Arizona Republic newspaper called her a "beneficiary of evil".Ms Gallagher is not deterred. They consist of understated acrylic paintings with plentiful text on both the cover and the inside.They made their debut at a trade show in New York in May and became such an instant hit she has barely been able to keep up with demand from visitors to her website. Students should understand basic American history before we go into African-American history."The plan to teach black history in Philadelphia has been a long time coming. As far back as the 1960s, the city, which is two-thirds black, experienced demonstrations and appeals by parents to include more black history in the curriculum.. Stroll the aisles of America's greeting cards outlets, and you will find every weirdness imaginable - good karma cards, getting high on marijuana cards, cards commemorating such obscure festivals as National Hot Dog Day (next Friday, as it happens) Loved ones of all varieties are catered for Well, not quite all.
When Cathy Gallagher, an advertising executive from suburban Washington, was casting around for a new line of cards to launch, she realised there was one category whose feelings went unacknowledged: adulterous lovers. So, earlier this year, Ms Gallagher - who is happily married - started a company called Secret Lover Inc and developed 24 different cards for illicit paramours There was the "please-leave-your-spouse-now" card The "we-can't-go-on-like-this" card The "I-wish-we-could-be-together-on-your-birthday" card. Motivated partly by the comments of some of his mainly white constituents, Mr Perzel wrote that the plan "will divide, rather than unite the city and thereby erode the positive learning environment".He said schools would do better to concentrate on "basic reading, writing and arithmetic" Once we have them down pat, I don't care what they teach. Officials say the course will not only benefit black children by teaching them more about their history and culture but will also provide insights to their non-black classmates. But critics say the new measure will further polarise the city by drawing attention to just one race and by not dealing with other racial and ethnic groups.John Perzel, the Republican speaker of the Pennsylvania state House of Representatives, has asked the city's school board to make the course optional. Under the plan, white and Latino children are unable to opt out of the lessons if they want to graduate from high school. From September Philadelphia will become the first major US city to require its students to take such a course. Kurdish rebels have recently carried out bombings in Aegean resort towns targeting the lucrative tourism industry, but leftist and Islamic militants are also active in the country.* The Foreign Office has issued an emergency number for Britons concerned about relatives: 020 7008 0000.. Officials in Philadelphia are facing condemnation from conservatives over a plan to force all students to study black history as part of the school curriculum.
